Matsuo Basho and Haiku
This thematic unit, “Matsuo Basho and Haiku,” was developed by Junko Fujimoto (University of Oklahoma), one of a group of teachers in US high schools and colleges who participated in a one-month summer institute in Japan led by Laurel Rasplica Rodd (University of Colorado) under the auspices of the US Department of Education Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad program.
The group included both teachers of Japanese language and teachers of literature and history; their goal was to travel the poet Basho’s iconic 1689 pilgrimage route through northern Japan, as told in his classic work Oku no Hosomichi (Journey to the Interior); experience life in today’s rural Japan; and develop materials for use in their classrooms. They spent four weeks in Japan tracing Basho’s route, studying his writings, and meeting with contemporary haiku poets and scholars of his work.
Fujimoto-sensei’s unit, contained in this PDF file (3.96MB, 90 pages), is a standards-based introduction to Basho, haiku, and their Japanese context for intermediate to advanced students of Japanese.
Berkson-sensei’s unit, “Haiku in Action” (3.25 MB, 44 pages), includes activities designed to convey the excitement of creating haiku to younger students.
